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Maryland State Police used a baton and pepper spray to try to force a Frederick man to put down a pair of 6-inch scissors before a sheriff's deputy ultimately shot and killed him, according to Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins.

Warren S. Watkins, 40, continued to fight the three troopers on Friday, Jenkins said, before Cpl. Brett Etzler, a 12-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, shot him three times.

"Watkins tried to assault the officers," Jenkins (R) said Tuesday. "They couldn't subdue him."

Etzler, 38, was on duty at the time but not in uniform, Jenkins said. Because he was out of uniform, Etzler chose not to carry a Taser, also known as a stun gun, Jenkins said.

The incident started shortly before 11 a.m. Friday when Maryland State Police responded to a report of a man stealing a $4,000 necklace from Kay Jewelers in the Francis Scott Key Mall in Frederick.

Etzler also arrived on the scene, and radioed in that he was pursuing the suspect on foot as he ran toward the adjacent FSK Holiday Inn near Spectrum Drive and New Horizon Way. Etzler asked that a certified Taser operator respond to the scene as well, Jenkins said.

According to Jenkins, virtually every uniformed patrol officer, as well as all deputies assigned to middle and high schools, have been trained to use a Taser and choose whether or not to carry it.

Jenkins believes if Etzler had carried his Taser on Friday, the deputy would have used it before his gun. "It would be responsible to say that," Jenkins said.

But a deputy with a Taser could not arrive before the situation escalated, and Etzler fired his weapon and struck Watkins twice in the torso and once in his left arm, according to police. Watkins was taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Etzler has been placed on routine administrative leave with pay, pending an investigation by the Maryland State Police.

Jenkins did not fault Etzler for not carrying a Taser, which he acknowledged comes with criticism from some members of the community. In May, the family of the 20-year-old Jarrel Gray of Frederick filed a $145 million lawsuit against Jenkins and Cpl. Rudy Torres as a result of Gray's Taser-related death at the hands of Torres in November 2007. The lawsuit was filed after a Frederick County grand jury found Torres was justified in his actions.

The Sheriff's Office is asking that anyone who witnessed Friday's altercation call Cpl. Jason West at 301-600-3894.